


The Aftermath

by Brynn_Jones



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Drinking, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Episode: s01e04 Cyberwoman, possibly canon compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-04
Updated: 2017-08-04
Packaged: 2018-12-11 03:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11705676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynn_Jones/pseuds/Brynn_Jones
Summary: Jack and Ianto had been sleeping together for months when the Cyberwoman incident happened. Afterwards, with Ianto going home for his four-week-long suspension, Jack struggles to deal with his hurt feelings.





	The Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> The obligatory Post-Cyberwoman story :)

Jack was sitting behind his desk, an almost empty bottle of whiskey opened in front of him and a filled tumbler in hand. He threw the glass of amber liquid back, not even noticing the burn anymore.

“Jack?” came a hesitant voice from his doorway and he lifted his head to look up at Gwen.

She wrung her hands. “Are you ok?”

He tried to grin at her but was unsure of what the resulting grimace actually looked like. “Never better,” he lied.

She gave him a doubtful look. “Are you sure? I know that Ianto was-” she started to say but the captain interrupted her.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

She bit her lip. “I understand but-”

“Gwen!” he raised his voice before he could get himself under control. He took a deep breath, continuing in a softer voice, “Go home.”

The Welshwoman still looked hesitant but in the end decided to leave him alone without any further fuss. Jack let out a heavy sigh of relief. Pouring himself another glass, he threw it back before closing his eyes. He tried not to think about Ianto and his betrayal but the whole clusterfuck was still running on repeat in his head no matter how much whiskey he poured down his throat. He once again cursed his high alcohol tolerance - one bottle just wasn’t enough to make him forget.

He didn’t bother pouring the remains of liquor and just necked the rest of the bottle. How could he have not noticed that Ianto was hiding something? The young man had been spending almost every other night at the Hub with him and yet, Jack had no idea.

He didn’t know what hurt more - the professional or the personal betrayal. He had thought Ianto was intelligent and responsible enough to know better than to put the whole planet at risk for the dubious chance of saving one woman but, more importantly, he had thought that he and Ianto had something special together. Sure, it had been just a bit of casual fun but they got along well and the captain had figured there was the potential for something more serious happening.

Now, he realised he had just been fooling himself. Ianto had took advantage of Jack’s attraction to him and used sex to distract him from what had been happening behind his back the whole time. If he were a little less drunk and a lot less hurt, Jack might have even admired the younger man’s determination. Sleeping with someone just because you felt you had to took a certain amount of desperation and a lack of self-respect - neither of which Jack had thought applied to Ianto. He’d been wrong, apparently.

The captain thought back to the beginning of their affair, remembering the way Ianto had been nervous.

“I’ve never really done this before,” he had said. It had appealed to Jack at the time - he felt powerful being the one to introduce the Welshman to the joys of gay sex. Now he just felt like he had inadvertently coerced Ianto into it.

Jack huffed in anger. He shouldn’t feel guilty about what happened - the young man was responsible for his own choices - but he couldn’t help it. Had he perhaps given Ianto the impression that sleeping with the boss was a part of his job? Had the man thought jack wouldn’t hire him otherwise? He could see how that would make a man who needed access to the Hub to save his girlfriend desperate.

The phone on his desk rang, the loud sound reverberating around the room. Jack ignored it, glaring at the empty bottle of booze. Had he already drank it? He couldn’t remember.

Jack stood up, stumbling a little as his legs struggled to support his weight. He had the feeling there was an old bottle of Bushmills somewhere in his filing cabinet.

The phone rang again.

“Shut up!” Jack hissed at the offending device, trying to glare at it for good measure but having trouble focusing properly.

“I don’t think it can hear you,” a quiet voice informed him, the Welsh vowels more pronounced than ever.

Jack swiveled around, barely keeping his balance. “What are _you_ doing here?” he spat at the man standing in his doorway. “I thought I told you to go home?”

Ianto lowered his gaze to the floor. “I’m sorry, sir,” he told him, perfectly polite in face of Jack’s animosity. “I came back for my house keys, I must’ve lost them somewhere, uh, downstairs.”

The captain glanced at the clock on his wall. “You left four hours ago,” he noted. “And you’re only now realising you don’t have your keys?”

The younger man looked sheepish. “I went for a walk first,” he admitted.

“That long?” Jack asked in disbelief. “Did you trot to the caste and back or something?”

Ianto shrugged. “Or something,” he mumbled, before straightening up and saying more clearly, “I’ll leave you to it then. I’ll just go and look for my keys and then I’m out of your hair.”

The captain watched his lover walking away, feeling a lot more sober now. “Ianto!” he called after him, causing the man to halt. “I’ll come and help you,” he offered, though he was unsure about his own intentions.

“There’s no need, sir,” the archivist refused politely. “I wouldn’t want to bother you.”

Jack didn’t know if it was the refusal itself or the unwavering politeness with which it had been delivered, but he could feel anger welling up in his gut again. “You don’t want to bother me?” he questioned, voice dripping sarcasm. “You did nothing but _be_ a bother today!”

Ianto took a deep breath. “I am sorry, sir. I’ll be quick and head right home.”

Losing all of his control, the captain stormed over to the younger man who stood at the bottom of the metal stairs. “No you won’t,” he growled, getting in Ianto’s face threateningly.

The Welshman took a step back. “S-sir?” he stammered and Jack watched as signs of fear welled up in his eyes.

“I said,” Jack sneered, stepping closer again, “you are _not_ leaving.”

Ianto looked properly afraid now, though his posture had an air of resignation about it. A combination Jack hadn’t thought was even possible before he saw it with his very own eyes. “What do you want me to do, Jack?” he asked warily.

There wasn’t really any excuse for what Jack did next but if someone asked him, he’d blame the empty bottle in his office. “What you always do,” he said, eyebrow raised lewdly, and accompanied the words with a hand trailing down Ianto’s chest.

The younger man was visibly shaken. “What?”

“What’s the problem, Yan?” he whispered, hand sliding lower. “Isn’t this what you do?”

“Jack,” Ianto sputtered, “I don’t want to-”

“What?” Jack barked. “Don’t tell me you suddenly changed your mind? I thought shagging the boss was part of your plan. Or has that changed now that your little secret is out?”

“Jack,” the younger man whined, struggling against the captain’s wandering hands. “Please let me go.”

The immortal suddenly shoved his lover away, causing him to stumble. “Of course,” he snorted. “I forgot you’d have to force yourself into it.” And with those words he turned around and stomped back up the stairs to his empty bottle of whiskey.

He was surprised when a few seconds later he heard the other man rushing after him - he had thought Ianto would take the chance and scarper.

“Is that what you think?” Ianto demanded, striding into his office with a look of determination on his face.

Jack looked back with confusion. “What?”

“That I’ve been forcing myself to sleep with you?” the younger man clarified.

The captain shrugged carelessly, flopping down in his chair. “What am I supposed to think, Ianto? You manipulated me into hiring you and then you hid a cyberman in my basement. It’s not a stretch to imagine you also slept with me in order to keep me from asking questions.”

The younger man huffed in frustration. Looking guilty but determined. “I _flirted_ to manipulate you,” he admitted, before insisting, “But I didn’t have to sleep with you! You think it made things easier?”

“Well, I-”

“It made it harder!” the distraught man cried out. “Harder for me to sneak around because you were always watching me; harder for me to lie to you; harder for me to keep justifying keeping Lisa here!”

Jack stared at his lover in astonishment. “Why _did_ you then?” he asked, honestly wondering. 

“I couldn’t help myself,” Ianto disclosed in embarrassment. “You just- I knew it was a bad idea and I tried talking myself out of it but…” he trailed off, shrugging.

Jack was drunk and tired and didn't know what to make of Ianto's admission. "So you're saying that sleeping with me wasn't part of your plan?"

Ianto stuck his hands in his pockets. "Yes," he confirmed. "I did everything I could not to sleep with you, actually. I just... failed miserably."

"So," the captain continued his questioning, "you fell into bed with me because you like me?"

The younger man looked flustered. "Yeah," he mumbled, then after a pause he went on, "Listen, I know what I did was..."

"Stupid, dangerous, illegal, hurtful, stupid, disloyal," Jack suggested. "Oh, and did I mention stupid?"

Ianto pressed his lips together, grunting his assent. "Yeah, all that. I'm sorry."

Jack considered his lover quietly for a moment, before asking, "Would you do it again?"

"Jack-"

Raising his hand, he halted the Welshman. "Just tell me the truth, Ianto. _Would_ you?"

The answer was a quiet and resigned, "Yes."

Jack nodded, having expected such a response. "I have to think," he said finally. "We’ve made a right mess of things and I need some time to sort it all out in my head.”

Ianto was quiet, looking contrite.

Standing up, the captain walked over to his lover, making sure not to breach his personal space this time. “Listen,” he told him softly. “I reckon we _both_ need some time apart to think. I don't think I can quite forget what you've done - I feel hurt and betrayed - but I'm sure I'll find it somewhere within me to forgive you, so we can continue working together once your suspension is over. Why don’t you go home now, and I promise that when you come back, we'll start with a clean slate?”

Ianto nodded, looking as if he couldn't quite believe the change of tone in their conversation. “Ok,” he agreed quietly.

“And then,” continued Jack, making a spontaneous decision. “Whenever you’re ready, we can see if this thing between us goes anywhere, ok?”

Another nod, accompanied by a shy smile. “Ok.”

The older man smiled back. “Not now, though, _now_ you go home,” he said, squeezing Ianto’s shoulder friendly.

The younger man turned on his heel and headed to leave, when he stopped suddenly. “Uh, sir?”

“Yeah?”

“I still haven’t got my keys,” he complained.


End file.
